Alibaba invests $692M in Chinese department store owner
Alibaba (ABABA) is buying $214M worth of shares in Chinese retailer Intime (INTIF), and $478M worth of convertible bonds. Once the bonds are converted into equity in three years, Alibaba will have a 26.1% stake.
As part of the deal, Alibaba and Intime will create an 80/20 JV focused on converting online activity (inc. smartphone activity) into offline purchases in places such as shopping malls, department stores, and supermarkets.
The deal follows Tencent's $214.7M investment in top Alibaba rival JD.com (set to go public), and is the latest in a string of high-profile investments by the Chinese e-commerce giant. Others:ChinaVision Media, Tango.
Intime investors apparently feel they got a raw deal: Shares fell 7.8% overnight in Hong Kong.
